We Survived!

In true Tina and Doxie form it turned out that cyclone Uluri hit the Queensland coast the very exact day we were booked to visit Fraser Island! For those who don't know, Fraser Island is one of only 10 world heritage sites and classified as a 'tropical paradise'. Along with the Whitsundays it is deemed THE thing to do while travelling the East Coast of Oz and the millions of travel centres, brochures and sales reps that promote doing a trip there boast of the endless blue skies, diamond white sand and turquoise sea.
You can imagine our frustration then (and that is putting it VERY mildly) when we learnt that Uluri was heading for the coast just north of Fraser Island and the weather pattern it was bringing with it resembled something like an angry washing machine.

I have to mention at this point that I feel we were rather mislead by the irritatingly chirpy and rather slimy tour guide at the 4x4 base in Hervey Bay who assured us that not only would we be able to continue with our pre-planned itinerary of the island but that the bad weather would probably 'swing' right past us.
Now skip forward 48 hours and picture 8 grumpy girls bumping along the beach in a 4x4 at 6am, still half asleep and wearing an odd selection of pyjamas while the wind whistled through the axels and horizontal rain lashed against the windows. I can assure you, that at that moment, the weather had not swung past us.

However, not all was disastrous, even though we'd been the only group to miss our ferry boat to the island the day before (not a good start) and the weather was seriously trying to dampen the sprits of our once in a lifetime paradise trip, I think we did a great job of making the best of the situation.
There were 8 girls in the group which consisted of Tina and I, Jen, a friendly chatterbox from Newcastle, Jenna and Emma, two mates from Scotland and the 3 Germans. Two of them were pretty harmless but the third was a rather rotund individual with a penchant for taking more than her fair share of food, most annoying.

On day 2 the plan was to drive along the flat sand of Eastern Beach and up to Indian Head at the north of the island for breathtaking views and to bath in the Champagne Pools (natural rock formations). But alas, the crazy sea was spilling it's salt watery guts up virtually the whole width of the beach and we'd been warned that if the vehicle touched salt water a hefty $5000 fine would apply to the group. Hence Jen who was driving the beast, and I who was perched up front navigating, voted to get inland pronto and re-route the day.
To cut a long story just a bit shorter it was a long, long day with almost 10 hours of continuous driving and many obstacles to get past (including a full sized tree that had been uprooted and fallen across the track blocking our path). The weather cleared up a bit and the driving was an adventure but it wasn't the relaxing day we'd all had in mind! Timing the tides right we managed to get back onto the beach and drive up to a sand dune we could unload and camp behind for the night. We managed to set up camp and cook a meal before dark but I was absolutely gutted when for the millionth time was denied any form of sunset, just a cloudy sky :(

Another issue for Tina on the trip were the Dingoes, very much alive, active and wild. They are a cross between foxes, wolves and dogs and scavengers by nature. Tina who it'd be fair to say hates most animals was absolutely bricking herself every time there was a rustle in the dark. Can you believe that out of a group of 30 people in total only 2 people had brought a torch camping with them....TWO PEOPLE?!?! And that was me and Tina! What's wrong with people!?
Anyway, back to the dingoes, I was doing my best to reassure her and act very blasé about the possibility they could attack us at any moment when to prove my point of being safe I shone my torch into the inky black next to us only to meet the glowing eyes of a tooth bearing dingo about 5 meters from where we were sitting.

It is at this point I’d like to say I calmly stood up and shooed the animal away in a responsible manner but instead I sort of yelled 'DINGOOOOOOOO' into the night and everyone scrambled to their feet and ran with the shock.
I don't think Tina ever quite recovered.

We also developed a system we named the '360 degree wee' when having to use the 'non-existent' bathrooms in the night. It would involve one of us preparing the site while the other rotated around them with two torches flailing light beams in all directions dramatically as so to pre-empt any dingo or snake like animals creeping up on us while doing our business. I always ended up in hysterics as to me the torch light of the operation reminded me of the high strength light beams used at award ceremonies on the red carpet. I tended to narrate at the same time announcing something like 'Welcome to to 82nd Oscar Ceremony held here in LA......' maybe you had to be there lol.

Much to my delight, when I awoke at 3.30am on our second night in order to do a loo stop with Tina I looked up and couldn't believe it, the sky was crystal clear of any cloud and every single star was out in force. It was absolutely beautiful and that one moment, seeing the stars like that was all I needed to make the trip amazing. I didn't want to go back to sleep so sat up for 15 minutes just staring at them before passing out on the rock hard floor again. When I woke up in the morning the cloud was back and I wondered if it had been a very good dream. We got a bit of a sunrise which was nice but it was a shame that in the 4 mornings I’ve been up before 5am there hasn't been a clear sky to enjoy.

There was also an amusing incident at a little remote cafe in which Tina and I spotted a urn of hot water and thought it would be ok to take a couple of cups worth to use with our own teabags that we carry everywhere with us. Apparently NOT as when we began walking out of the door a real bloody jobsworth of a woman came over asking us just 'who did we think we were helping ourselves to things that aren’t ours' etc etc....IT WAS ONLY SOME HOT WATER FOR GODS SAKE!!! I should mention that not only was it 7am but the bad weather beach incident had just happened and everyone was somewhat pissed off. I told her I thought her tone was unnecessary (hahaha!) which much to my amusement wound her up some more. Because Tina and I are stubborn we resorted to paying the $1 EACH for the hot water and sipped our fruit teas with smug looks on our faces.

On day 3, our last, we managed to cram in all the bits we'd missed out on the previous day. We saw the famous ship wreck, a gorgeous natural spring creek, the stunning Lake Mackenzie and I thoroughly enjoyed driving the 4x4. As I sped through the forests it felt worryingly like I was in Jurassic Park and kept expecting a t-rex to jump out and rip the truck apart with it's teeth. I would've liked to have driven a bit more like a maniac but something told me the 7 other girls in the back wouldn't have enjoyed that as much as me.

Really randomly we also bumped into Ross and Jon, our buddies from New Zealand at the Lake on Fraser Island so there was much hugging, whooping and exchanged chat before having to split again. It turns out that Ross has been offered a 2 year contract with a dive school in Cairns to become a dive instructor (full training and accommodation provided!) as is going to take it with open arms. Looks like his family won't be seeing him for another few years then!!!! His new employer is apparently a 30 something guy with a 42ft catamaran boat and enjoys entertaining on it so we're praying to the gods we get a few days out on that!

So anyway, after a long and tiring 3 days the group returned back to base on the mainland looking like a selection of
beaten up war soldiers with all sort of ailments but good memories and a memory card full of photos.

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Then it was onwards and upwards to the town of 1770, a fairly recent addition to the backpacker map as far as I’m aware but this is what excited me about it, finally somewhere a little different, not too commercial. I believe everything happens for a reason and that day we bumped into Ross and Jon they warned us not to stay at Cool Bananas (the hostel we were booked to go to) but instead to stay at Southern Cross, and how right they were!

Southern Cross is gorgeous, so so soooooooooooooooooooo nice :) Every time I arrive somewhere like this I profess my love for it and start engaging the brain into plan mode, how can I stay here? when can I come back? Could we work here? When? How? Now! What made my eyes extra wide about 1770 is that it's awesome for kite surfing and there are kiters floating around with their boards and backpacks, I was in love.

Jen who is also on her way up the coast had tagged along with Tina and I which was perfect as we got to stay in our very own 3 person room with no strangers yay! There were to two rooms to each little wooden house dotted around the grounds and a pool, hammocks, camp fire etc to keep the travelling feel of the place alive. The houses also had large verandas out front so you could sit out and enjoy a beer while watching the sun set, or in our case, watch the mosquitoes rip us to shreds.

We had three days to kill in 1770 but it's gone really fast which is a good sign and has been the best stop yet. On day one I got to realise the life long dream of cruising down the highway on my very own chopper motorbike complete with a custom paint job of the American stars and stripes all over the bodywork, this was a good day.
The tour was called ScooterRoo and you basically rock up at this large shed where at least 100 awesome looking motorbikes, all hand painted with cool designs sit waiting for you, the highly inexperienced and over keen punter to jump on the seat and open that throttle to it's max to feel the wind in your hair and bugs in your teeth.

This dude's set up must make his insurance company cringe because to me, the idea of 40 backpackers (plus a few random German tourists) skidding to a nasty halt on the gravely tarmac seems like quite a realistic possibility but luckily it didn't happen to us!
Instead Tina, Jen and I sped along the highway on our choppers and flame-lined helmets feeling like stars on a film set while the sun set in front of us. When we'd finished cruising I asked the owner what the bikes were, where I could get one and how much they cost, I now know the answers and will be purchasing one, complete with stars and stripes on my return.

On day 2 the sun stayed out for us and Jen and I did a 3 hour surf lesson for a measly $17!! It was perfect, 20 mins of basic tuition by a brown wrinkly skinned, bleached blond haired surf dude. We both managed to stand up and ride a wave which was good fun but the strong current meant it was hard work and really bad for my back :/ (I'm paying the price today believe me).

Day 3 (today) has been super chilled, Jen left last night and Tina and I have enjoyed eating the BEST muffins ever made in the history of man. I've eaten alotttt of muffins but these are something else, seriously good!!!!

Now we're waiting to board the Greyhound night bus which will be a 14 hour long journey argh! I don't think we'd really thought about how long this was until 10 mins ago when eating our jacket potato, beans and cheese. That's more than a flight from London to LA...and half of London to Australia!....but Tina makes a good point, at least we save on one nights accommodation, a poxy $30 (which we'd happily spend on 6 white chocolate magnums anyway)

In summary it’s been a great few weeks but if I ever hear just one more Australian mention that this is the most uncharacteristically wet summer they've ever had again, I think I will rip the tongue from their mouth and send it in a little parcel to the Sahara where i'm sure it'll be nice and Sunny! :)

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Whoops, didn't get a chance to send the blog until now and now it's 4 days later than it was so had better mention the last few days because they've been so fun and defo worth a decent mention.

So we survived the night bus, it wasn't the 14 hours of hell that we thought it might be, it actually went pretty quickly
and we both managed to get some hours of zzzzzz as we trundled through the more non-descript towns of the east coast. There's something about being cooped up on a bus and travelling for hours that makes you buy crap, crap you don't even want but suddenly find yourself drawn to. An example being 'My god, I desperately need that horribly greasy chicken burger even though it's 7am and I don't even like chicken burgers'. Or in my case, 'I must have that 5th pack of skittles AND the M&M's'. To be honest, it's amazing I haven't been sectioned into a fat camp with the treats i've been buying but you only live once eh.

We pulled up into Townsville around 11.30am and jumped in a cab to take us to our residence for the next 3 nights, Orchid Lodge. As Tina and I surveyed the landscape of desolate retro architecture and abandoned shop facades whizzing in front of our eyes we realised that the Lonely Planet travel writer reviewing Townsville had clearly been on acid while accessing the area to see it in such a positive light and hastily cut short our pre planned 3 nights to 1.
It was a useful stop over though and the hostel was more like staying at your granny's house then a hostel. It came complete with free laundry facilities and the old ladies running it were very cute.

However, cute old ladies were not enough to stop us venturing over to Magnetic Island on the ferry the next day and we made the 8k cruise out of Townsville to our new home in Nelly Bay. Here we have been staying at Base hostel, a VERY cool place which is more like a resort than a backpackers. The huge wooden decking pumps out music across picnic tables of people eating and drinking while the sea laps at the foot of the door. The whole place backs right onto the beach complete with palm trees and a full moon glowing onto the water.

In our three days here Tina and I have really chilled out and explored the island by hiring the craziest little car from
'tropical topless rentals'! It looks just like a larger version of a barbie car complete with pink and white plastic decor and was a convertible of course. It was wicked to zip around the empty roads feeling like I was in a computer game.
Another perk was the fact that one of my prizes from the Australian visa bureau that I won for my blog was 3 nights free accommodation here at Base so I've been staying here for free and that's $100 saved!

It was funny because today I was walking round taking pictures and who should call my name from reception but Jen, she'd caught up with us here on the island which was cool and we've just had a nice dinner together so that's all good. She's been telling us about her trip in the Whitsundays which we're doing on the 10th and getting excited about but also thinking about our sky dive which is happening on the 7th at Mission Beach. I can't believe i'm going to be throwing myself out of a plane in 7 days, hope the parachute opens :/

Going to post this now before it gets any longer now, hope whatever you're doing and where ever you're doing it in
the world you're doing it well and having fun, laters! :)

A Big Wash Out

I'm knackered!

We've been constantly on the move for what seems like an eternity, it's time for some rest and relaxation. New Zealand was hectic and the last 4 weeks back in Australia haven't been slow paced either.

Unfortunately our 4 days in the desert were, not ruined, but...well, kinda ruined by the weather. I have
to say I was really excited about going to the Red Centre, seeing Uluru at sunrise and sunset and especially camping under the stars. But just like everywhere else i've been on this journey there has been some crazy highly unusual weather pattern affecting the area which no-one has ever seen before and it sucks.

Alice Springs (where we were staying) saw more rain in one day than they usually have in a whole YEAR, and it's been raining 8 days flat. It was only the day we left that the sun began to shine and clouds part...if i think about it too much i'll cry!
So yeah, the tour was fun but we didn't get the experience I wanted, especially gutted about not seeing one star the
whole time. Maybe a millionaire will helicopter me back for a sunset dinner there in the future, that'd be good.

However, what we did do was fun and Tina and I were in hysterics most of the time, probably from the early starts and lack of sleep. On day 1 we were picked up at 6am and began a 5 hour drive out towards Kings Canyon, it was actually quite pleasant to have some cloud cover and cooler temperatures as the walk from one side to the other was 3 hours and would've been a struggle in 40 degree heat. I went to see the doctor in Adelaide and was diagnosed with inflammation of the knee cartilage (which is why it's been hurting to walk all the time) so bought one of those tubigrip supports and hoped that would help, instead it just made me look like the weakest link of the group as I hobbled over the rocks in a disabled fashion.

That evening we arrived at our camp site (a patch of dust with a dangerously unstable looking rain shelter) and set up camp. The rain held off long enough to have dinner round the camp fire which was fun but it promptly started up again as we rolled out our 'waterproof' swags and climbed inside. I probably shouldn't have looked but wanted to make sure I wasn't sharing my swag with any uninvited guests so got the torch out to dig around down in the bottom. To my delight I pulled out a dead cockroach and let out a piercing scream of joy that echoed around the desert.

Another issue was the 'bathroom' situation. Tina and I are a really, really bad influence on each other and if one of us goes, so does the other, and because we'd had a few beers before bed that night we ended up having a bit of a midnight adventure trip to the 'dunny', a wooden shack with a hole in the floor. We were flashing our little torches around looking for spiders and scared snakes would bite our behinds so it must have been a funny sight for anyone watching us from the camp!!

On day 2 we entered the Aires Rock national park and spent some time walking around the area (still bandaged up like a granny). We were supposed to witness the stunningly beautiful red rock at sunset but all we got was a gradual transition from light cloud to dark cloud and the memory of Tina and I yet again sneaking off behind the bushes with the loo roll.

Day 3 was a 4.30am start in order to see the stunningly beautiful rock sunrise but again all we got was a dark cloud to light cloud transition, whoop-de-doo.

After leaving Alice Springs we flew to Brisbane for 4 days which turned out (as we suspected) to be expensive and too long, it's an ok city but we were only hanging about to see what it was like at the weekend anyway. We spent our time just walking around the city, going to the cinema and craaaaving to be back on a beach!
Seeing as Brisbane is a river city and not a sea city the Brisbane council built a fake beach on the South Bank of the
river which was quite nice but no supplement. It was weird walking over the South Bank bridge, looking around I
noticed their white 'city eye' big wheel, the metal suspension bridges over the river, the gross brown river water, the ominous dark grey sky and heavy rain drops landing on my rain jacket...'hang on?!' I thought....am I back in London?!

Those last few days in Brisbane i'd been making the effort to talk to a French girl who had been staying in our room, she didn't speak much english which must have been fairly scary for her so seeing as i'm working on my French it was good practice to try and help out.
The gesture obviously paid off as when she saw me queuing up for the computers she offered me use of her unlimited free internet on her laptop! It took a few minutes to understand what she was talking about but we got there in the end lol.

From Brisbane we cruised down to Byron Bay via an over night stop in Surfers. It was so weird to be back when I wasn't sure i'd ever see it again and was bombarded by flash backs from my time there before Christmas. Amanda came to pick Tina and I up as which was awesome, so good to see her again and then we did the obvious...drove straight to Max Brenner for a chocolate brownie! We also squeezed in a drive down to Kirra where a Quiksilver surf competition was on, had dinner at one of my old favourite cafes and popped into build a bear to check out the new stock.

We arrived into Byron late into the evening but checked into the most amazing hostel ever, 100% the best so far and i'd put money on it being unbeatable. It was a guest house with a distinctly Caribbean feel to it, white washed wooden verandas overlooking tropical plants and palm trees swaying in the breeze. There were surfboards and paintings of tropical paradise's hanging from the tall ceilings and a general air of casual luxury about the place.
Staying at 'The Atlantic' made the 4 days we spent there pass fast in a blur of beach, beer and live music. The rooms were only 3 beds which was great, however it turned out we were sharing with a fairly elderly lady who fast became nicknamed witch number 2.

She wasn't as awful witch 1 from New Zealand but we had a few rounds of 'Fan Wars' during our time together. Tina has developed a bit of an obsession with the ceiling fans and if you don't want the fan on the same speed as her during the night then god help you.

Every night this lady would go to bed with the fan off...then we would creep in after hours and whack that bad boy up to 3 which was promptly followed by an awakening from The Witch, a stomping motion over to the button and an adjustment to speed 1.
It's at this point we had to tread really carefully as were feigning sleep but slowly and surely we'd reach over and twizzle (twizzle - surely a word that's not used enough?) the knob up to speed 2.

Sometimes we'd win and other times there would be vocal confrontation but there you have the essence of Fan Wars.

Other events cropping up include my frustrating and disastrous trip to the Chiropractor. To cut a very long story
short my body hates me at the moment and i'm in pain, a lot of it at the moment. Seeking immediate relief I booked in and paid $100 for 2 sessions with what I was told was a Chiropractor. It said Chiropractor on the door and I was happy with that. HOWEVER. After lying down on the table and being led through a series of breathing exercises it dawned on me that this was no normal click-you-into-place chiro but some f**king positive spine and wave force of life energy healer. THIS DID NOT MAKE ME HAPPY. So the outcome of that was that I may have well as burnt that $100 and i'm still in pain.

So now we're up in Noosa, when we were in Byron Bay we met a guy called Luke, a Californian surfer pilot who we starting hanging out with him for a while. A lot of people are in the 20-22 age bracket so it was cool to hang out with someone a bit older at 33. He even ended up driving us to Noosa from Byron so we could keep him company as he was travelling alone lol!

I hear there's a tropical cyclone on it's way too which is annoying, a grade 4 at the moment which'll bring more rain and storms. The problem with the East Coast is that your daily choices are go to the beach, or go to the beach and rain does not fit well into that equation :/...........